Despite the team’s success both offensive and defensively to start the season, the New England Patriots have a running back problem.
Although they don’t rank terribly in total rushing offense – managing an average of around 112 yards per game on the ground, good for 18th best in the NFL – the backs themselves are not having a good year.
Rhamondre Stevenson has just 279 yards rushing, and has averaged a fairly unflattering 3.4 yards per carry. And the man who was supposed to ultimately take over Stevenson’s job going forward, second round rookie TreVeyon Henderson, has had far fewer opportunities than almost anyone had expected.
Henderson has done decently in yards/carry when given the chance to play, managing a respectable 4.3, but he has never quite been able to take over games. And, for one reason or another, head coach Mike Vrabel seems unwilling to increase his workload despite Stevenson’s limited production and extensive fumbling issues.
At this point, the team is leaning on quarterback, Drake Maye, who has been one of the top signal callers in football this season, to provide much of their rushing attack through scrambles on off-schedule plays.
Trade Exchange Would Have The Patriots Upgrade At RB
But in the medium and long term, that is unsustainable, so this trade proposal sees the Patriots move very early off of the first year man, Henderson in exchange for New York Jets running back, Breece Hall.
Hall has not managed to reach the upper echelons of the elite running backs in the league as of yet, but he is easily an upper-end starting RB in the NFL, and one who – aged just 24 – is only just starting to enter his prime.
The former Iowa State man has only carried the ball around 1350 times since the start of his college career, meaning he has easily half a decade of action before the all-important 2500 carries mark, which can often signal the beginning of declining productions for tailbacks.
Hall is out of contract at the end of the season, but the Patriots should not have much problem re-signing him if he performs well. New England have the most amount of available cap space in 2025, and the 8th most in 2026.
A Henderson-Hall Deal Makes Sense For Both Teams
Considering the remarkably quick turnaround he’s overseen after the team went 4-13, in addition to his extensive record and pedigree as a head coach, it feels like there is little doubt that Vrabel will – in all likelihood – remain the man in charge for a significant time period.
So if he has decided – as seems apparent – that perhaps the team made a mistake this past draft, and Henderson is not his guy, then that could mar the young Ohio State product’s opportunities to get on the field for numerous future years – thus making a move off of him now, whilst his value remains high from his pre-draft evaluation, a smart one.
And in return, the Patriots would receive a player who has consistently produced at a high level, whom they have money to re-sign in the offseason if they so choose, and has a very high ceiling.
At the same time, the Jets get to invest in their future, without really needing to focus too hard on the short-term returns in 2025, and get an elite talent with 3.5 years remaining on his cheap rookie deal.
A win-win for both AFC East division rivals.
New England Patriots receive:Â Breece Hall, 2026 sixth round pick.
New York Jets receive:Â TreVeyon Henderson, 2027 seventh round pick.
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